Medical City Dallas names Erol Akdamar as CEO

Medical City Dallas Hospital announced Tuesday that Erol Akdamar will become its president and CEO.

Akdamar will assume the position starting Jan.11. He replaces Britt Berrett, who will become president of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas in late January.

Akdamar, 42, is currently the CEO of St. David’s South Austin Hospital in Austin. He has held various senior management roles in the past 15 years, including positions involving partnerships between the hospital system, HCA, of which Medical City Dallas Hospital is part, and tax-exempt organizations such as St. David’s in Austin, Rapides Regional Medical Center in Alexandria, La., and Tulane University Hospitals in New Orleans.

“Erol’s diverse set of roles and experiences will complement his leadership of the truly dynamic and complex organization comprised of Medical City and Medical City Children’s Hospital,” says Jim Scoggin, HCA North Texas Division President in a statement.

Carole Young, president of the Medical City Board of Directors, said that she was pleased with the decision to have such a dynamic leader head up the organization. Akdamar’s strategic, operational and relational focus would help the hospital achieve great success in continuing its initiatives and goals, she said.

Medical City officials said Akdamar’s collaborative leadership style has produced many successes, including high levels of employee engagement in the top 10%, patient satisfaction and physician satisfaction while growing inpatient admissions by 20%. Most recently, Akdamar led efforts to secure funding in 2009 for a $72 million major campus expansion at St. David’s.

A Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, Akdamar earned his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La., and a Master of Health Administration from Tulane University School of Public Health in New Orleans. He comes from a family heavily involved in healthcare, including a brother who is a physician and two sisters who are registered nurses.

“I have been honored to have worked in collaboration with great mentors and great leaders in my career,” Akdamar said in a statement. “I take great pride in accepting such a prestigious position in an organization that has achieved such unparalleled success as Medical City and Medical City Children’s Hospital.”